Fingal was commissioned by the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) in 1963 and was the last ship to be built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company in Glasgow. Registered in Leith, she was stationed for 30 years in Oban and then for 6 years in Stromness, ferrying lighthouse keepers, essential supplies and maintenance staff to lighthouses, as well as undertaking repairs to navigational aids throughout the West Coast and the North of Scotland. Fingal retired from NLB service in 2000.
After retiring from NLB service, Fingal was sold to a private owner and renamed ‘Windsor Castle’. The proud new owner fully maintained the ship in working order for 14 years on the River Fal in Cornwall.
It was in December 2008 that Fingal's owner first approached The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust (the Trust) to enquire if it was interested in acquiring Windsor Castle. There then followed six years of negotiations before the ship was eventually acquired by the Trust in July 2014. After a dry dock survey in Falmouth, the ship was towed to Leith in August 2014 and the detailed designs began.
Two years later her original name: Fingal was restored as a tribute to the outstanding role she had performed for the NLB, and the great affection with which she was held throughout the coastal communities she served.
Thanks to https://www.fingal.co.uk/our-story/ for information.
